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West Valley City • Come Monday, every West Valley City police officer is expected to record his or her interactions with the public.

Thanks to a $1.1 million contract, approved by the City Council late last year, the police force is equipping almost all of its sworn officers with eye-level body cameras. Matt Madsen, a seven-year officer, wears his on the side of his sunglasses. He's expected to turn it on every time he interacts with a citizen.

"The way it's been explained to me, is that gives the best perception," Madsen said Wednesday at a camera training session for officers. "Every time I turn my head, you're seeing exactly what I'm seeing."

A study out of California showed that once a police department there started using body cameras, use of force and citizen complaints dropped during the year.

Cameras "change the officer's behavior and it changes the citizen's behavior when they know there's a recording going on," said West Valley City Police Chief Lee Russo.

This isn't Russo's first time rolling out body-camera technology. When he was a police chief in Kentucky, he equipped all of his officers there with cameras, too.

"There's so many benefits to this investment in technology. And I think it will help us start to bridge the healing gap over the current criticisms in law enforcement," Russo said. "Like I said before, it's not the silver bullet. … But at least we have a reference point, a common place, where we can go back and say 'Let's talk about this, let's talk about what's significant in these videos.' "

Adoption of the cameras continues to spread across Utah — from American Fork to Perry. The call for them, and the transparency and accountability they offer, grew all the more in the wake of headline-grabbing police shootings nationally and in Utah.

Increasingly, departments are releasing the footage from fatal police shootings to the public. Salt Lake, Syracuse and Draper police all have released footage from the year's first three officer-involved shootings. Officers weren't wearing body cameras during the fourth and most recent fatal police shooting, in Provo.

Russo's goal is for his department to release such footage within days of a major incident.

"Good or bad, get it out there. And here's the reason why: Rumor takes over," Russo said. "… If you don't do that, then people start to assume what happened, and is there a cover-up? Get the information out there right from the beginning, have the dialogue, have the narrative with it."

Officers such as West Valley City's Madsen appreciate that clarity.

"You'll be able to see what we're really dealing with," he said. "They'll be able to see, 'Oh, OK, I understand why he did what he did. It's not just assumptions. … The old saying, a picture's worth a thousand words. Well, how much is a video worth?"

West Valley City Officer Wade Wright also is excited for the change.

"That's great, let's do it," Wright said. "I think times change. Back in the day, [officers] didn't have computers in their car."

He said that the biggest learning curve with the cameras, and Madsen agreed, is simply remembering to turn them on.

But body cameras create lots of footage. Eight West Valley City officers have been using them for a week, and they alone have produced 472 videos, said training officer Bob Idle.

"Imagine when we go live with [almost] 200 [cameras]," Idle said. "Fun stuff, right?"

A Utah lawmaker wants to ensure that the body cameras aren't violating people's privacy. HB386 would require police departments to turn on body cameras and keep the recordings for at least 30 days.

Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, introduced the bill Tuesday in hopes of setting up statewide standards for the use of the cameras and the retention of their recordings. McCay also plans to set up a series of grants to law enforcement agencies to equip officers with cameras.

The bill would require law enforcement to wear the body cameras in a conspicuous location and officers to record encounters with the public in an "uninterrupted manner." Officers also would need to wear cameras when serving a warrant at a private home. The recordings would have to be kept for at least 30 days but no longer than 180. Footage that might be used as evidence would have to be kept at least 90 days or until the investigation is complete, and footage used as evidence in a criminal case would be kept until the case is over.

If a recording is altered or deleted, or if the officer fails to record an encounter in a criminal matter, juries and judges would be instructed to look at the events that took place in a light favorable to the defendant.

A committee has yet to vote on the bill.

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